A Different Perspective
by FlyingNunLord
Summary: The perspective from fem!Harry's point of view and how her life would have turned out differently if her gender had been changed. Will mainly focus around Fred, George and Lee.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first story concerning the great Harry Potter fandom and my first story changing what happens in the books so much! Usually I write about events that could happen in the canonverse, I don't usually change it completely! Hopefully I've managed to pull at least some of what I've been trying to do off and that you'll help me improve wherever I failed to deliver ;) I hope you enjoy it!**

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"Platform 9 and 3 quarters this way"

My ears managed to pick out amongst the bustling and babbling created by the throngs of people at Kings Cross Station. Looking frantically left and right as I hastily stuffed the ticket Hagrid had given me back into my pocket, I just managed to catch sight of where I thought the voice had come from. Well, I say 'just managed' to catch sight of, I mean it was hardly difficult _not_ to pick out the peculiar group of people from the crowd, all with matching flaming red hair and old fashioned trunks stuffed into their trolleys, an owl cage perched precariously on one.

_Owl cage! _I thought to myself excitedly as, if I wasn't much mistaken, ordinary trains didn't take owls onboard so that must mean...

Tentatively I began to roll my trolley towards the group of, I hoped, wizards. They were led by a middle age woman, also with ginger hair, clutching the hand of a small girl; behind which were four boys each with their own trolley piled with the type of luggage similar to my own.

I didn't have to follow them far for soon enough they came to a stop in front of the brick pillar marking the stations 9 and 10.

Looking to make sure they _had _in fact stopped walking, I pushed my trolley behind the last pillar they had passed and peeked round the side. (I was just taking a safety precaution! What if they weren't actually wizards and they saw me spying on them to see which train they got on? One awkward situation I could certainly do without thank you very much.)

However, when I looked back at the group I realised that the boy with the owl cage sat atop his trunk, was missing.

"What? I only looked away for a few seconds, there's no way..." I trailed off as my body tingled with excitement. There _was_ no way that he could have moved away so quickly which meant that I was right, they were wizards!

Making sure not to even blink this time I watched intently as the shortest boy was pushed forward lightly by the middle aged woman ,who I assumed was his mother, with an encouraging smile.

Not taking my eyes off the small figure I saw him take a deep breath and seem to steel himself up for something.

Another wave of excitement and anticipation ran through me as I waited with baited breath. Finally, I was going to see some magic again after Hagrid's last visit all those weeks ago at the start of the summer holidays.

The boy gripped the handle bars of his trolley tightly before he started to run... straight at the brick wall?!

_What is he doing! _I squealed inside my head, hands flying over my mouth. _Maybe it's like the brick wall disguising Diagon Alley at the back of that pub Hagrid took me to _I wondered, though how he was going to tap out a combination on the bricks in time I had no clue.

Edging further and further around the edge of the pillar I watched with wide eyes as he got closer and closer to the wall before...!

Someone stepped in front of me.

"No!" I let out a gasp as my chance of finding out how to get onto the platform in time was lost.

_Damn it _I thought before I realised that the person, or should I say persons, who had stepped in front of my line of sight were still there, and talking.

"I told you she was following us Fred"

"I think you were right George"

"And she's been watching us too"

"Right you are again. Good job we stood in the way"

"Don't know what we would have done if she'd seen"

"Or what we would have told mum"

I stood there, speechless as I stared into the faces of two boys with ginger hair.

And the same face.

"If we were you, we'd be on our way now" they both said in unison, grinning cheekily down at me as I frantically tried to get my mouth to start working again.

"Uhhh" I managed and mentally kicked myself-not what I was hoping for.

"Maybe we didn't need to worry after all" one said, waving a hand across my face.

"Yeah, looks like there's not much there" the other chimed in peering into my eyes.

"I'll have you know that there's quite a lot there thank you very much unlike you two, who look like your IQs _combined _couldn't reach more than about 10" I said petulantly, folding my arms across my chest crossly.

"What's an IQ?" the twin to my left asked his mirror image, puzzled.

"Well there you go" I muttered as I slowly back away around the pillar to where I'd left my trolley.

"Muggle speak me thinks Georgie-boy" the other replied as they both followed me round the brick column. '_Muggle' I'm sure I've heard Hagrid use that word before _I thought to myself as my mouth turned down in a scowl.

Walking backwards, my eyes never leaving the two red heads, I bumped into the handle bars of my trolley and Hedwig squawked loudly.

"Hey why've you got an owl on your..." the boy to my right trailed off as his eyes suddenly lit up in understanding while a rather sheepish smile crossed the face of his brother.

"Look, I'm not a 'muggle' or whatever you keep trying to offend me with but I'm going to miss the train and I have absolutely no idea how to get onto the platform because I asked the station master where platform nine and three quarters and he told me to- hey!" I yelled, blushing a almost out rivalling the twins hair colour as I watched them double over in fits of giggles when I told them about asking help from the station master.

"Y-you didn't actually-"one laughed wiping a tear from his eye.

"-ask help from a _muggle_-" his counterpart giggled leaning against the pillar for support.

"-about a _magical _platform" they finished together barely containing their grins of mirth.

"Oh well I'm glad you find it so funny", I mumbled embarrassed, "But I seriously need you to-"

"FRED!? GEORGE?! You're going to miss the train" a woman's voice cut me off and the two boys heads swivelled round.

"Come on then" Fred/George chuckled as he grabbed the handles to my trolley and started wheeling it towards his mother while George/Fred tugged on my arm to get me to follow them.

"Where have you been? I hope you've not been messing about with the muggle toilet facilities again, took your father _weeks_ to make them stop spewing insults and disgusting water at whoever started to use them, not to_ mention _you're not even supposed to be using magic outside of- now who's this then?" their mother, finally pausing to take a breath, smiled politely at me.

"Can talk for England can our Mother" George/Fred whispered to me as his brother explained my situation.

"Ah not to worry dear, not to worry. My name's Molly Weasley" she smiled patting me reassuringly on the shoulder before gesturing at one of the boys, "Fred'll demonstrate how to get onto the platform for you"

"Hey I'm not Fred! _He's _Fred" George cried indignantly at his mother as he pushed his trunk towards the brick column marking the stations 9 and 10.

"Honestly, woman, and you call yourself our mother" Fred said from beside me, indignantly shaking his head.

"Oh sorry George" she sighed as she stepped out of his way.

"Only joking mum, I am Fred" he winked as sprinted past us and straight through the solid brick pillar.

_Um... what._

I stood there with my mouth hanging open as my brain tried to comprehend what had just happened.

"Well there you go dear, I'd go at a bit of a run to start with if you're nervous" she smiled kindly down at me.

"Er um o-okay" I stuttered as I wrapped my suddenly clammy hands around the handle bars of my trolley and slowly pushed it towards where Fred had started his run up.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to convince myself I wasn't running full pelt into a brick wall but really running into a magical portal taking me to a magical platform to board a magical train to a magical school which now that I think clearly about it all sounds completely insane and who in their right mind just follows a giant of a man who's told you that you're a wizard and takes you shopping and-

I was abruptly saved from spiralling into despair by a reassuring hand squeezing my shoulder.

"Hey, it's okay, you'll be fine. Fred'll be waiting for you on the other side and I'll be right behind you" George said from beside me as he gave me a toothy grin.

Giving him a shaky but grateful smile, I nodded my head in thanks at him and gave his mum a smile from where she stood a little to the side with her daughter.

"You better be" I muttered as I began to run, only just hearing his light chuckle before it was swept away by the roaring in my ears as the very solid looking red bricks and cement leapt closer and closer.

Determined not to shut my eyes I could now make out the grimy and chipped surfaces of the stone structure as the gap shortened further and further until I hit the wall.

And everything went dark.

_Oh great, it didn't work and now I've knocked myself bloody unconscious _I started moaning to myself before a resounding '_pop' _ filled my ears and colour burst into my eyes along with the quiet thunder of a busy train platform ,filled with the sounds of tearful goodbye's and excited cries of reunion after a summer break of being away from your school friends, the usual; "How was your Summer?", "We had such a good holiday", "I heard you went to Tibet", "Yeah the Yeti's were so friendly, the snowball fights were insane".

_Yeah, the usual _I thought as I was quickly beginning to realise that nothing was going to be _my _usual anymore.

"Hey move out the way of the entrance or George'll run straight into you" a familiar voice said beside me as I felt a tug on my arm pulling me away from the brick wall I'd just passed through.

"I can't believe that actually worked..." I trailed off still in awe at having successfully run through a brick column.

"Well let's be glad it did otherwise..."

A gush of wind brushed past me as his twin came through the wall.

"You would have made a right mess running into a brick wall at a station-"

"Filled with a load of muggles" they finished together.

"How do you do that?" I asked incredulously, George hadn't even been on the platform when Fred had started talking!

"Ah, it would lose its charming novelty effect if we told you that now, wouldn't it" they replied in unison, not forgetting to wink at the same time.

"Perish the thought" I muttered dryly as their grins intensified and they shared a knowing look. My eyes narrowed.

"You're plotting something aren't you" I said as we began to walk along the train to find an empty compartment.

"Who, us?" Fred cried indignantly.

"We're angels incarnate" George added, an overly innocent expression playing across his face.

"Uh-huh and what was it your mum said earlier? Something about talking toilets?" I smiled, raising my eyebrows.

"Ah, now that was pure genius" Fred said, nodding his head as he remembered.

"Hardly even needed to practice the spell for that one" George boasted on my other side.

"Well, we could have done with a little more practise" Fred said as his face scrunched up into a frown.

"We weren't quite expecting that _all _the toilets would be affected-"

"-Or that they would start to talk-"

"-Or the truly magnificent insults they would think up"

"-Only going for one to spit out water really-"

"But it turned out great in the end!" they both finished beaming before I burst out laughing.

"Angles incarnate, suuuuure" I giggled rolling my eyes.

They continued to tell me about all the mischief they'd gotten up to in and out of Hogwarts, not forgetting to mention the truly spectacular punishments their mother had thought up for them, until George spotted what looked to be an empty compartment.

"Here, give us a hand" George puffed as he tried to manoeuvre his heavy trunk off his trolley.

Fred and I went to help and soon all our belongings were aboard the train.

"Blimey what have you two got in your suitcases" I exclaimed as I wiped the sweat from my brow with the back of my hand.

"I'm glad you asked that-"Fred began before George's gasp and pointing finger interrupted him.

"What's that?" he asked, indicating at the lightening shaped scar on my forehead.

"Umm..."

"Blimey," Fred joined George in scrutinizing my scar. "Are you-?"

"You are, aren't you-"

"Hailey Potter" almost whispering my name as their eyes widened.

"Why didn't you tell us?" George asked me, frowning slightly as he took as step back.

"Well we never did get round to actually introducing ourselves and I didn't think it mattered..." I muttered looking up at them uncertainly through my eyelashes.

I hadn't really thought I was all that famous to be perfectly honest with you, even when Hagrid and I had gone to the Leaky Cauldron and everyone had been shaking my hand, I didn't think even the_ school_ children of this world would know my name.

"Sorry?" I ended it as a question, not really sure if I had caused any offense or anything- I mean come on, I've only been part of this world a few months!

"Naah its okay-"Fred assured me.

"We were just surprised is all," George said. "I thought the scar was a myth to be honest" he joked.

Relief coursed through me and I let go a breath that I didn't realise I'd been holding.

"It's real all right" I grimaced remembering all the times Aunt Petunia had tried to get me to cover it up under layers and layers of thick makeup as it was 'indecent for a girl to show off an ugly scar in the middle of her face'

"Fred?! George?!" someone called them from amidst the bustling crowds of parents saying their final goodbyes to their children.

"That'll be mum" Fred sighed, though his eyes held warmth as they searched through the mass of people.

"No doubt come to tell us not to mess about with Filch and his darling cat again this year," George said before turning to me. "Go ahead, we'll meet you in there" as he and his brother made to find their mother.

I watched them for a bit as they left and managed to catch;

"As if we'd go after the same person twice" George scoffed.

"But his reactions were rather brilliant you have to admit" Fred said chuckling before they were swallowed up by the hustle and bustle of the station.

With that I turned and climbed the steps up and into the corridor of the train, stepping into the empty sitting area.

Or what we had all thought to be empty.

"Oh sorry, I thought it was empty- Is that a tarantula?" I gasped in disbelief at a boy with dreadlocks sat in one of the seats, a tarantula sat in his slightly cupped hands.

"Yeah! You wanna see it?" he beamed holding it out tentatively towards me.

Grinning I rushed over to get a closer look at the spider.

"Wow, I've never seen one in real life before" I whispered in awe as I watched the large hairy creature peek back at me through its four pairs of gleaming black eyes.

The boy laughed as he gently ran his finger along its body.

"Normally girls are screaming to get it away from them at this point," he chuckled. "I'm Lee by the way."

"Hailey Potter" I smiled at him watching his eyes widen in shock.

"Wow for real?" he asked in disbelief as his eyes zeroed in on my forehead.

_Guess I'm going to have to get used to that _I thought as I pushed back my fringe to reveal the lightening shaped scar.

"The one and only" I said as I let my fringe fall back into place and my attention was once again drawn to the tarantula Lee held in his hands.

"Do you think I could touch him?" I asked, suddenly filled with the urge to find out if it felt as hairy as it looked.

"You can hold him if you like" Lee answered before laughing at the shocked expression crossing my face, "As long as you're gentle" he added placing him slowly into my outstretched hands.

"This is so cool" I squeaked as I felt the spider shift and move slightly as it settled down.

"Hey, d'you wanna see some magic?" he offered, delighted with my reaction to his new pet.

"Definitely" I said immediately, eyes sparkling at the prospect of getting to see some more magic.

"Right, put him down on the floor and stand back a little" he instructed grinning mischievously at me before bringing out his wand from his jacket pocket.

"_Engorgio_" he cast waving his wand in a circular pattern before pointing it at the spider.

An icy blue flare of light shot from its end and hit the tarantula squarely on the back.

Almost immediately it started to swell and I gaped as it slowly grew to the size of a mug, then a plate, then a cushion, until it was the size of a small T.V and still growing!

"It's getting rather large now" I said nervously as I glanced across at Lee over the ever growing creature.

The look on his face didn't make me feel any better as it slowly dawned on me that, if I was reading the 'oh god I have no idea how to stop this' look on his face right, he wasn't too sure on how to actually get his now dog sized tarantula to stop growing.

"Get over here quick!" he yelled at me as we both realised that it would soon be too big to actually get over and for me, being on the side of the compartment furthest away from the door, that would be a problem.

"Go go go!" I urged as I scrambled along the seats to avoid the swelling spider before both barging through the door and slamming it shut behind us.

"Why won't it stop growing?" I questioned Lee who was becoming paler by the second beside me.

"I think I put too much power into it" he said uneasily, watching the spider fill the compartment from the other side of the glass door.

"How much bigger will it get before it stops?" I asked, biting my lip as we exchanged worried looks as he shrugged helplessly.

"What have we here then?" said a voice right by my ear causing me to jump.

"Jesus Fred" I gasped hand flying over my unsteady heart.

"How'd you know it was me?" he frowned before Lee burst out.

"Never mind that now! I've forgotten the counter-charm to the engorgement spell" he said looking towards Fred for help.

"Engorgement spell? What are you using that for..."George's voice trailed off as he caught sight of the growing dark shape currently inhabiting out compartment.

"That's not-"

"Your tarantula is it?" disbelief colouring the boy's voices as they stared at Lee's pet.

"How'd you manage that one?" Fred said mischief lighting his eyes as he thought of all the pranks they could pull with this new discovery.

"Now's not the time for thinking up ways to use the spider in a prank!"I cried, "There won't _be _a spider if you don't find some way to stop him from growing"

"Right, we can think of that later" George winked before sliding the door back with one hand and bringing out his wand with the other.

"_Reducio_" he said making his wand draw a 'V' shape in the air.

A brilliant purple colour shot from the end of his wand and soon enough the compartment sized spider began to shrink back down to its original size.

Breathing a sigh of relief we stepped back into the now nearly empty room.

"That was some magic you showed me there" I laughed to Lee who smiled cheekily at me before picking up his spider and gently putting it back into its box left discarded on a seat.

"We leave you for five minutes-"George started as he sat down beside me.

"And already you've get yourself into trouble" Fred finished, sitting in the opposite seat.

"I think it's meant to be" they both said, sharing a look which promised trouble.

Trouble I undoubtedly would find myself smack damn in the middle of knowing my luck.

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**Well there you go, I'm not sure if I'll be able to write all of the Philosopher's Stone like this or even if this will turn out into a load of one-shots about fem!Harry and Fred and George and Lee. If anyone wants to give me a theme for one of these said one-shots I'll be more than happy to oblige, I just really love writing about my favourite characters so I'd probably do it for you no matter what you asked for ;)**

**Please leave a review to tell me what to improve or what you liked I would much appreciate it :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow, I am so amazed by the reception this story has received with all the follows, favourites and reviews (Rea558750, sammyluv21n and delenafan99 thank you so much) all made me really happy! They got me really motivated to write this next chapter soon too, which wasn't the best thing for me to do seeing as I have exams all this week so I really should be revising... At least I can say I'm kind of revising English?**

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"You asked a _muggle _conductor where the platform was?" Lee asked incredulously with his mouth twitching in an attempt to stop himself laughing.

We were well into the train journey by now (we had changed into our robes around lunchtime) and Fred, George and Lee had been swapping stories about what they'd done that summer. Turns out Lee had gotten his tarantula whilst staying in Australia for his father's work-something about sorting out some children eating Bunyips?- and apparently it had gotten quite attached to them even crawling into their clothes and shoes at night. (Something his sister didn't quite appreciate judging by the screams that came from her room every morning Lee told us, a mischievous glint in his eye telling me that the spider probably hadn't found its way into her clothes every morning by accident)

After this Fred and George had gone on a rant about how their brother Percy had been made a Prefect this year and what a disgrace it was to have _another_ 'Perfect Prefect' in their family.

Then of course George had to tell Lee about my little mishap this morning.

"I had no idea where it was okay!" I cried indignantly, a light blush colouring my cheeks as Lee's face finally broke out into a large grin as he began to laugh at me.

"At least I didn't almost explode my pet spider" I said triumphantly, now Lee's turn to go red.

"Speaking of that spider" Fred said leaning forward in his seat and looking at each one of us in turn, "Who are we going to use it for?"

"Sinistra? Remember her reaction when we put that permanent paint on the ends of all the telescopes during her lesson last year?" Lee's grin reflecting on the twin's face as recalled that particular prank.

George chuckled turning to me "She had paint all around her eyes for weeks after"

"Sinistra's super pale too so it made her look like a panda!" Lee laughed.

"We even bewitched it to change colours every hour or so" Fred said and I giggled as a ridiculous image formed in my head.

"Damn, I wish I'd been here to see that" I said wistfully as I thought of how dull and boring my life had been up until now.

"Well you're here now aren't you" George smiled.

"Join in too if you want" Fred added as Lee nodded beside him.

"As if I'd let you do them without me after everything you've told me" I stated grinning round at the first group of proper friends I'd ever had.

Because being confined to a cupboard under the stairs for most of your life doesn't really present you with many opportunities to socialise, surprisingly, and any people who _had_ tried to get close to me at school had been scared away by Dudley and his blockhead friends.

"So who are you going to prank then?" I wondered as our attention once again was drawn back to the matter at hand: choosing a victim to set a bloody huge spider on.

"Hey, aren't we getting a new defence against the dark arts teacher again this year?" Lee pointed out after a while of name swapping went on between the three. (I wasn't much help here seeing as I hadn't even been to Hogwarts yet)

"Professor Squirrel or Quivvel or something like that, wasn't it?" Fred tried to remember scratching his chin.

"Quirrel?" I said suddenly, recalling the incredibly nervous man Hagrid and I had met at the Leaky Cauldron all those weeks ago.

"Yeah that was it" Fred snapped his fingers in recognition, "How'd you know?" he asked, curious.

"When Hagrid took me to get my school stuff we met him at the Leaky Cauldron on our way there" I said before frowning as I remembered what had happened, "I was shaking everyone's hands but when I held my hand out to him he just stared at it as if it was going to bite him or something" I finished.

"Sounds like a weirdo, if you ask me" said Lee.

"Sounds like the perfect target" George stated rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Wonder how he'll react to a sofa-sized tarantula creeping its way into his room one night" Fred grinned evilly.

"Looked like the type to be scared by his own shadow if you ask me" I added, the memory of Professor Quirrel at the pub, quivering like a leaf at the slightest noises filling my mind.

"Maybe we can persuade Peeves to take part in a little nightly poltergeist activity near his chambers some time" Lee suggested then and soon we were all back to planning how to prank the new Professor. I even managed to suggest a few good spells to use on him at one point. (There wasn't really much else to do at the Dursley's when you were forced to stay at home for hours on end besides read, so I already knew all there was to know about first year magic- I had a knack for it really, something that I was immensely thankful for seeing as I'd pretty much grown up completely blind to the whole concept of magic)

Speaking of first year magic, something that had been niggling at the back of my conscience now came to the forefront of my mind.

"Are there any tests that first years have to do to actually get into the school?" I asked the boys trying not to show my worry, there was no use learning the spell books back to front if I couldn't even do them!

They exchanged knowing glances between them before lapsing into silence.

"What?" I said looking at them warily, "What do you have to do?"

"Well..." Lee trailed off, turning to Fred.

"It depends on the person" Fred tilted his head to one side looking at me.

"You'll probably have to fight a troll or something" George told me nonchalantly as the train began to slow into what must have been Hogwarts station.

"_A what_!?" I squeaked my eyes flashing to each one of them, trying to decide if they were joking or not.

"A troll?" I managed to get out without my voice breaking through several octaves this time.

"You've got to be kidding me" I implored as the train finally came to stop and the noise of several hundred children all cramming into the train aisle at the same time filled our ears.

"Looks like this is our stop" George flashed me a before getting up to leave along with the other boys.

"Bu- wait! A troll?" I followed them out panicked as I tried to recall any spells that might help against a bloody _troll_.

_What even is a troll here? _I wondered to myself, _I get the feeling they're probably _not_ like the little gremlin things hiding under bridges popping out to eat a goat every once in a while._

I was so busy worrying about the troll that I walked straight into the back of someone.

"Ow- Sorry I didn't see you the-"I cut myself off as I looked at the person I had walked into.

Hagrid.

Wow.

"It's alright there lass, s'pose yer probably a bit overwhelmed by all this ain't yeh" Hagrid laughed down kindly to me from where his head and shoulders towered above the rest on the crowded platform before continuing with his task of rounding up the new students.

_Oh god please can they not have seen that _I mentally worried to myself, eyes scanning the crowd as the teasing concerning how I'd asked help from a muggle train conductor filled my mind.

Thankfully I couldn't see any of the boys around as Hagrid began leading us off the platform so I knew I was safe from giving them another weapon against me to use at their disposal.

"No more'n four to a boat!" a shout sounded ahead of me as I realised that we'd stopped walking and were now on a smallish pebble beach at the edge of a dark lake and in the gloom that had set in with the early hours of the night, I could just make out a row of small rowing boats.

"I didn't realise it had gotten this late already" I muttered to myself as I made my way towards one of the boats.

Immediately a lamp mounted at the bow of the boat, invisible in the dark, glowed to life and soon enough there were three or four children to each boat, all waiting to be taken to the school they would be spending the next seven years studying the magic arts in.

"Alrigh' if tha's everyone then we best be off" came Hagrid's voice from a little way off to my left. I leaned out the side of the boat to try and get a look at where he was but in that instant the little boats jolted forward.

I would have fallen in the water if two pairs of hands hadn't grabbed the backs of my robes and pulled me back down into the boat.

"Woops-Thanks!" I said breathlessly as I realised what a great start to my schooling career I would have made arriving in sopping wet clothing.

"No problem" said a voice above me as two hands were thrust into my line of sight. Grasping them I was pulled up onto my seat by two grinning boys.

One was dark skinned with twinkling hazel eyes while the other was pale and gangly with a shock of very familiar coloured hair.

"I'm Dean Thomas" said Dean reaching out to shake my hand.

"Ron Weasley" said the other boy also reaching out his hand to shake mine.

"Hailey Potter, you must be Fred and George's brother" I guessed after shaking their hands and turning to Ron.

"Yeah they mentioned that they had met you! Do you really have the scar and everything?" Ron asked me excitedly as Deans eyes widened.

_Must have read about me in one of the school books _I figured as I lifted up my fringe to show them the lightening shaped scar everyone seemed so eager to see.

"Wow" he said before asking "Do you remember much of what happened?"

"Not really, just a lot of green" I said uncomfortably, not sure how I felt about talking about the night I know knew my parents had died.

"Sorry" Ron said sheepishly but brightened when I shook my head and smiled.

"So how do you know my brothers then?"

"They helped me to get onto the platform" I explained.

"My parents almost called the whole thing off as a massive joke when they heard you had to run through a _wall_ to get onto the platform" Dean told us as he explained that both his mum and step-dad were muggles and had had a hard time believing that there was, and had been for several thousands of years, a completely secret society of witches and wizards learning and performing magic right under everyone's noses.

"It is all a bit surreal though isn't it" I murmured holding onto the side of a boat that was moving completely on its own, steering us towards a school where we would learn how to cast spells, brew potions and fly broomsticks.

"I keep expecting to wake up and for it all to be a dream" Dean confided in us before yelping in pain.

"Hey! What was that for?!" he cried at Ron indignantly whilst rubbing his hand where he had pinched him.

"Well now you know that you're not dreaming" Ron remarked, a teasing grin spreading onto his face.

My laughter was cut short as we floated round a bend in the lake and I breathed "I think you're going to have to pinch me too"

For there, perched atop a high mountain with its windows sparkling in the starry sky, stood a vast castle with many towers and turrets.

"Wow" Ron gasped as the boats took us under the cliff into a little alcove hidden by overhanging vines of ivy with steps leading up into the mountain.

Dean got out the boat first before turning to give me a hand.

"Wouldn't want you nearly falling in again" he said to me as I rolled my eyes good-naturedly.

"Righ'! Follow me you lot" Hagrid cried as he led us up the stone steps to a massive wooden door before thumping on it with his huge fist.

With screeching hinges sounding in dire need of a good oil, the huge doors swung inwards to reveal a stern-faced witch dressed in deep emerald green robes.

At first glance, she looked very strict, someone definitely not to cross, but as her eyes surveyed the gaggle of first years before her I could just make out the laugh lines creasing around her eyes, almost hidden by the serious full moon spectacles she wore.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Professor McGonagall," she stated her words lilting with her soft Scottish accent "Now if you will follow me" she turned round and headed back into the castle.

We were led through corridors of worn flagstone with candles melting in their brackets lined lighting the way while Professor McGonagall explained to us what was going on.

"We are now currently headed to the main hall of the school; this is where you will be spending the majority of your mealtimes whilst staying at Hogwarts. It is also where the Sorting Ceremony will take place."

At the words 'Sorting Ceremony' I gulped and felt my palms grow slightly clammy, remembering George's speculations about having to fight a troll for mine.

"There you will be sorted into one of the four houses here at this school; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin. These are the houses you will be with for the duration of your time here and will act as your family, so it would be in your best interests to get along well with the rest of your house mates" she finished as we came to a stop at an even, if it's possible, bigger set of doors than the ones we had passed through previously. The slightly muffled sounds of hundreds of voices chatting all at once from the other side of the door filled our ears.

"You will wait here while I get everything ready for you" her tone brokering no room for argument before slipping through the oak doors whose hinges had had a little more TLC than the last one.

"What does she mean by sorting ceremony?" Dean asked.

"I don't know but Fred said it hurts a lot" Ron answered before quickly adding, "I'm pretty sure he was joking though" when he saw the looks on our faces.

"George told me we might have to fight a troll" I laughed uneasily hoping against hope that he was only joking like his brother had been.

Dean looked even more worried at this and I was about to assure him that it was, probably, just a joke when I saw his eyes focus on something behind me.

"I wondered if the rumours across the train had been true and looks like I've found you not a moment too soon Hailey Potter" a familiar looking pale boy with slicked back blonde hair smirked after sauntering up to us from somewhere within the group.

He was closely followed behind by a pair of boys who looked a lot like the nice people dear Dudley hung around with; namely thickset moving lumps of muscle.

"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy" he said, puffing up his chest a little as he said the name.

A snicker sounded from behind me and I turned to see Ron covering his mouth with his hand as he tried to pass it off as a cough.

It didn't work.

"What are you snivelling at?" Malfoy said indignantly before looking him up and down with contempt, "Red hair, freckles and hand-me-down robes? My father told me all about the Weasley's and all their unfortunate children that they can hardly afford" he sneered as Ron's ears turned red.

"You'll soon learn that some wizarding families are better than others Potter" he said holding out his hand expectantly.

"Ah I know where I've seen you before" I cried suddenly, snapping my fingers as I remembered, "You were the stuck up prat in the robe shop" I smiled at his shocked expression.

"Yes, quite clearly there _are _better wizarding families than others as you have so graciously demonstrated by acting like an utter git" I said cheerily, raising my eyebrows in challenge.

Whether or not he was going to take me up on that we'll never know as Professor McGonagall chose that exact moment to reappear from the hall and announce;

"We're ready for you now"

"Shame" I whispered to a dumbfounded Malfoy as we filtered into the hall and along the long dining tables filled with students.

"Hailey, look at the ceiling" Dean tugged on my sleeve as he pointed upwards into the great hall.

There were candles floating everywhere, it was a wonder no hot wax was dripping onto the students, and above them was the night sky; filled with thousands of twinkling stars and looking as if the hall was completely devoid of a roof and we were looking directly up into the real sky outside.

"That is amazing" I murmured in reply, craning my neck as I tried to take it all in.

We reached the front of the room and stopped by the steps leading up the staff table, at the end of which I saw Hagrid sticking out like a large sore thumb, waving enthusiastically at me and completely ignoring the fact that he was in very real danger of squashing the rather petite witch sat next to him.

I waved at him nervously, realising that now was the moment of truth; troll or no troll, we were about to be sorted into our houses.

I glanced to my side and notice how pale Dean had suddenly become so I squeezed his hand whispering "It'll be fine... probably"

He chuckled and smiled at me gratefully before we both turned to the front and watched as Professor McGonagall lifted a very dusty and bedraggled pointed hat out of an equally as dirty box and held it in her hand along with a roll of parchment that had seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

"I shall read your names one by one off this list" she said, eyes slowly going over each individual, "When yours is called come forward and sit on the stool"

"Abott, Hannah" she began and a girl with blonde plaits framing either side of her face walked timidly up the steps and sat on the stool. Professor McGonagall then proceeded to place the pitiful hat on her head.

_No trolls then_ I thought to myself, making a mental note to kill George Weasley whenever I next had a spare moment.

As soon as the hat left McGonagall's hand it jerked and seemed to come to life before our very eyes. The slashes and rips in its cloth became eyes and a mouth which flapped open and closed as its gravelly voice rumbled out of it.

"Fair, kind-hearted and a little on the modest side; I know exactly where to put _you_" the hat spoke before bellowing "HUFFLEPUFF"

What must have been the Hufflepuff table immediately burst into cheers as Hannah blushed madly and quickly left the seat hurrying to sit down at her table.

This continued on for some time and with each name that was read out I felt my heart beat a little quicker as my name came closer and closer to being read out.

Sure enough, after Parvati Patil was called up and sorted into the Gryffindor house and greeted with a huge round of cheering-it was by _far_ the most rowdy house there was I quickly learnt-my name was called.

"Potter, Hailey"

The whole hall went quiet; the only noise made were by my shoes clunking up the steps towards the stool.

_Well this isn't embarrassing at all _I cringed as I felt the stares of every single person in the room weigh heavily on me.

I glanced around and just before the hat came heavily down onto my head I spotted George and Fred Weasley's flashy red hair set at the Gryffindor table, both wearing identical grins directed at me.

Feeling a little less nervous I tuned in to what the hat had been grumbling in its deep voice.

"Cunning I see, obvious intelligence and the potential to be exceedingly loyal..." it trailed off as it seemed to be pondering for a moment.

"Oh? And what's this? Ah I remember seeing this exact trait in your father- I know exactly where to put you now"

I waited with baited breath and eyes squeezed tightly shut as the hat made its decision.

"GRYFFINDOR" its yell was met with a huge burst of thunderous applause from the table as the hat was lifted off my head and I felt a happiness like I'd never felt before bubble up in my chest as walked towards my new family.

This feeling only intensified when I heard Fred and George shouting "We've got Potter!" over and over as they clapped enthusiastically and Lee put his arm around my shoulder when I sat down next to him, grinning with joy.

"We knew you'd be in our house" the twins both said beaming.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Just like you knew that I would be fighting a troll?" I shot at them slyly, both having the decency to look a little sheepish.

I leant across the table and flicked them each on the foreheads, "That was for nearly giving me a heart attack" I whispered cheekily as the raucous applause finally died down.

The rest of the Sorting Ceremony finished quite quickly, sorting both Ron and Dean into Gryffindor house too, much to my delight, and after that was a short speech made by the Headmaster: Professor Dumbledore.

This consisted of warnings never to go into the lower levels of the basement, the forbidden forest, who would have thought it, or the staff toilets-this he seemed to be directing at a certain Gryffindor trio who all looked quite pleased with themselves- and finished with a few choice words. (I'm not entirely sure what he meant when he said 'Nitwick! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!' but judging from the exasperated look on Professor McGonagall's face she didn't have a clue either so I thought it was best just to brush over that)

As soon as Dumbledore had stopped talking the silver platters that had adorned the long, polished tables filled with the most scrumptious looking food I think I'd ever seen before in my life- it looked even better than the food they showed on the adverts and that stuff isn't even _real_!

"Is this really _all_ for us to eat?" I spluttered, still trying to get my head around the shear amount of food that had been materialised in front of us.

"No we're not actually allowed to eat it, they've just put it here for us to stare at" Fred joked as he piled his plate high with as much as possible.

I forced a chuckle following his example as I remembered that, back home, all too often I _wasn't _allowed to eat and _did_ have to just stare at the food on the table whilst Dudley stuffed his face with as much as possible.

_Nope. You're not thinking about that stuff now_ I told myself resolutely, shaking my head to clear it of the negative thoughts that had managed to creep their way in.

"You alrigh' Hai'ey?" Ron tried to ask through a mouthful of food, only really succeeding in spraying the surrounding people with food.

"Nice" I laughed, flicking a piece of half chewed chicken off my sleeve before taking a large bite out of one of the many assorted pies lain out on the table.

I moaned appreciatively "I am now" I grinned at him through a mouthful of pastry.

This was around the time that almost all talking, other than the occasional "Pass the-insert food name here-" was said, as everyone stuffed themselves silly with the main course and then the desserts that had appeared shortly after finishing all the savoury goods.

"I don't think I could eat anymore even if you paid me" groaned Dean happily as he patted his tummy contentedly and pushed away his nearly empty plate.

"Me neither" I agreed from beside him feeling my eye lids droop slightly as a yawn forced its way through my mouth.

"Don't fall asleep in your food there H" George teased me as he saw my head nodding drowsily where it was propped up by my elbow.

Fred and George had taken to nicknaming me 'H' since the start of the banquet, I wasn't too sure how I felt about it really, I mean I've never had a nickname before so it felt kind of nice to be honest. I smiled inwardly.

"I think that is a distinct possibility if I don't get to a bed soon" I yawned again and heard Ron's grunt of agreement from where he was sat next to Fred.

"Oi, Percy! The first years are about to fall asleep right here on the table if you don't carry out your all important prefect duties you've been telling us about all Summer" Fred called to his brother who was sat further down the table.

"Right, first years! Follow me! This way to the Gryffindor common room" a boy with curly ginger hair stood up and began directing us out the hall.

"Are you not coming?" I asked to Fred, George and Lee who all shook their heads.

"We don't go to bed at the same time as all the ickle firsties, we get a big kids bedtime" Fred teased and laughed when I stuck my tongue out at him-something that only further proved his point but I was too tired to care.

"First years, follow me" Percy the Prefect said impatiently from the doors of the great hall.

"Come on Hailey, let's go" Dean said pulling me off the bench with a grin, "I'm sure you'd much rather sleep in a nice, warm, fluffy mattress than on a cold, hard wooden table" he laughed as I immediately perked up and near ran to the exit.

He'd had me from the word nice.

**I've always liked Dean and I don't he gets as much book or screen time as he deserves, J.K even said she wanted to put more about him in the English books but it got edited out, though I heard there's more in the American ones?**

** Anyway, I hope you liked it! Please drop a review if you have time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**So this took me a little longer than I previously thought it would but it's here and it's my Valentines Day present to you guys, so enjoy ;)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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"Be careful of the stair cases" Percy warned us as we followed him to the common room, "They have the tendency to move when you're not paying close enough attention"

"They what?!"Dean cried while my eyes widened in shock next to him, now completely awake from my food induced stupor.

"Yeah, Fred, George and Lee were playing tag here and apparently the staircases got annoyed with them jumping about everywhere so they left them stranded on the twelfth floor for the night" Ron told Dean and I, chuckling.

"Do they mind us walking on them then?" I asked worriedly, making a sudden conscious effort to try and walk as lightly as possible.

"They'll behave if you know where you want to go" Percy, who had overheard our conversation, assured, "It's when you mess about on them with no set location in mind that they start acting up. Though if that's how you plan to behave on them, then I think you deserve whatever's coming to you" he sniffed, obviously referring to Fred and George.

_No wonder they go out of their way to annoy him _I thought.

"So if we get lost we're pretty much done for then" Dean sighed, "You know it took me three platforms of walking into different brick columns before I found the right one"

Ron and I burst out laughing.

"Oh what I wouldn't give to have seen that" Ron grinned.

"Did you not read the signs?" I laughed, leaning on Ron for support as we both staggered up the stairs after a confused Dean.

"There are signs?" he asked disbelievingly, but before Ron and I could erupt into another fit of giggles we stopped on a balcony whose walls were absolutely _covered _with paintings.

"Wow, are _all _the paintings in this castle bewitched?" wondered an Irish boy in front of us, looking clearly impressed.

"Another lot of first years, I see" said a blonde haired man in medieval clothing from a painting to our left as we walked a little ways along.

"Been sorted into the best house Hogwarts has to offer" another painted man spoke out proudly from where he was enjoying a game of cards with the other inhabitants of the picture, all heartily agreeing with him.

"Talking paintings: brilliant" Dean grinned and a woman dressed in a red Victorian gown curtseyed as we passed.

"Do all paintings in the wizarding world move like this?" I asked Ron, the only one of us who had actually grown up around all this stuff.

"No, talking paintings like these need really advanced spells to be performed on them to work properly, but you can take a normal picture with a camera and get the people in it to move around with a few simple potions" Ron told us bringing out a dog-eared picture from his pocket.

Originally, it was of Ron sat in a chair with Fred and George stood behind him, but as we watched, Fred brought out what looked like a small rocket and George lit the tail end, both completely ignoring the worried look crossing Ron's face. The rocket exploded in a shower of glitter and purple smoke and when it cleared, you could see it whizzing about the place throwing out sparks of orange and blue while Ron cowered under the chair and Fred and George rolled around on the floor in fits of hysterics.

"Mum's stopped using the moving potion on photos with Fred and George in because they act like this in _all_ of them" Ron grinned before shoving the picture back into his pocket.

"That's amazing!" I beamed, "Do you think they'll teach us how to do it in lessons?"

"I hope so" Dean said enthusiastically, "I can't wait to show one to my mum" he added, whispering, as we had stopped walking and were now stood in front of a life-size portrait of a woman that looked like a very fat version of Princess Leia, decked out in a frilly pink and white silk dress choked with ribbons.

"As you know, here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Percy began in a self-important voice, "There are four houses. Each has their own, personal common room with their own, secret entrances,"

My head perked up in interest.

"Ours" Percy paused for dramatic effect which quickly turned into awkward silence, "Is to do with these paintings"

"Well obviously or why would we be here" Ron muttered rolling his eyes and pulling a face when Percy shot him a glare.

"The entrance painting and password change intermittently but a Prefect will always be there to tell you the changes"

"What?" Dean whispered confusion written across his face.

"What does he mean by entrance painting?" I whispered back, equally as puzzled.

"What does he mean by intermittently?" Ron asked hopelessly.

I shook my head and sighed, smiling before turning back to what Percy was saying.

"...So this time the password is _Caput Draconis" _he finished and no sooner had the words left his mouth, did the lady in the painting nod her head and the whole painting swung forwards ,as if on hinges, to reveal a medium-sized opening in the wall.

"Wow" came the collective gasps from the group as we followed Percy into the Gryffindor common room.

It was the embodiment of comfort with its squashy leather brown armchairs, fleecy red carpet and roaring fire in a great stone slab fireplace nestled at one side of the room.

"Girls dormitories are to the right, boys to the left. You're trunks will already be up there, there will be no need to unpack everything now just get into bed" Percy looked at us meaningfully, emphasising on the word 'bed', before leaving through the portrait door to re-join the feast.

"Look at how big this fire place is" a girl with curly blonde hair exclaimed to her friend; in awe at the huge fireplace with its stone lion head jutting out over the mantelpiece.

"This is awesome, I bet none of the other common rooms are this cool" I said in delight, jumping onto one of the squishy armchairs next to the fire.

"You sink any further and you're not going to be able to get out" Ron shook his head laughing as I was enveloped by the chair's leather cushions.

"I don't think I even _want_ to get out" I murmured, eyes drifting closed as the warmth of the fire and everything that had happened today caught up with me.

"Warm bed upstairs, remember?" Dean teased me, quickly moving out the way as I flopped onto the ridiculously soft floor, sliding reluctantly from the chair.

"You know I think I'm perfectly comfortable with this warm patch of carpet right here" I sighed contentedly.

"What are you, a cat?" Ron joked before crouching down to peer at me.

"Hey, don't knock it 'til you try it" I grinned up at him, rubbing my cheek against it to further my point.

His laughter was interrupted by a shadow falling across my face, cast by a girl with bushy brown hair and slightly stuck-out front teeth.

"I expect the Prefect won't appreciate it if he returns to find a first year asleep on the floor, _especially _after he told us all to go up to bed" she declared, almost glaring down at us.

I rolled over onto my back, sharing a look with Ron who shrugged, eyebrows raised.

"I'm only kidding, I'm sure the bed upstairs is much more preferable. Though this particular patch of carpet _is_ very appealing" I added as an afterthought, beaming up at her before stretching out my hand.

"A little help up?"

She seemed taken aback for a moment, before grasping my hand and yanking me upwards.

"Thanks- Ugh! You're not taller than me as well are you?" I cried in frustration as I noticed that the top of head only just reached her eye-line, "Are all magical people tall?"

"No you're just really short" Ron said as he patted the top of my head, much to my annoyance.

I am not the tallest person ever if you must know; I barely come up to Ron's shoulder and don't even get me_ started_ on the height difference between me and the twins!

I suppose I could pass it off as malnourishment, though I must say I'm quite grateful about that as if I'd been fed like Dudley for all those years I'd be the size of a house by now! But Hagrid told me that my mum wasn't particularly tall either, when I'd asked him to tell me about my parents for a bit when we were sat in a coffee shop one time.

He also said that I had my dad's impossible-to-tame black hair; no matter _what _Aunt Petunia tried to do to it, it would always stubbornly revert back to its original unruly curls so eventually she gave up and just cut it short like a boy's.

"Well anyway, it's time for bed. I expect you to be up shortly" the girl said abruptly before shooting a quick 'goodnight' to the boys and hurrying off up the stairs to the dorm room.

"What was all _that_ about" Ron questioned, slightly bewildered as we watched her retreating form.

"Maybe she's just shy?" Dean suggested.

"Ah well, I guess she's right though, we should probably be heading up to bed now anyway. Night" I smiled as they replied with their own goodnights and we headed off in different directions to our beds.

Climbing upstairs and opening a door marked with a wooden plaque reading 'First Years', I walked in to find the girl from earlier already in bed and wrapped up so deep in her bedcovers, that I wouldn't have recognised her if it weren't for her brown, bushy hair poking out of the top.

Moving past her bed I made my way into the bathroom to get changed, on the way exchanging brief smiles with the other two girls who were chatting quietly to each other from across their beds.

Then I was diving with relief into the many fluffy pillows and extra warm blankets making up my bed and letting out a small sigh of satisfaction.

_No more moth-eaten camp beds for me _I thought to myself gleefully as I snuggled further down into the mass of comfort I would be sleeping in for the next school year.

I woke up to warm sunlight streaming in through the window onto my face.

Not a bad way to wake up when you've been forced awake for most of your life by the rattle of an obnoxious Aunt sharply wrapping on your door, screaming something about cooking bacon for her dear, darling Dudders.

The only downfall about been woken up by the morning sunlight was that, in September, the morning sun rose at six in the _bloody morning._

That's _why these beds have curtains _I thought groggily, prising my eyes open and squinting in the light.

_Well at least I have the chance to explore a bit before the others wake _I smiled.

Breakfast was at eight on a school day and lessons started at nine according to the timetables that had been waiting for us on our bed side tables. That gave me about two hours to kill.

_Perhaps I'll start with a little exploration of these fine quarters _I grinned, wincing when I stepped out of bed and the chilly temperature of the room hit me in full force.

Quietly clicking open my trunk, so as not to wake the other girls, I got out my uniform and quickly changed in the bathroom.

Now completely ready, I stepped out and surveyed the room, being much too keen on sleep the night before to do so properly.

There were four, four poster beds each with their own set of dark red curtains, (curtains which the other three girls had actually had the brains to make use of to prevent being woken up at some ungodly hour) and a mahogany set of draws at the end of each bed for clothes. The room itself was made of stone with two portraits containing sleeping witches hanging about shoulder height on the walls on either side of the windows, away from the beds.

An extract from a book about ancient castles I'd read a while ago suddenly sprung to mind as I looked around the room; _due to the times such great castles were built in, many of these ancient dwellings contain multiple secret passage ways and escape routes to combat the constant uprisings and usurping taking place..._

I must have lost interest in the book as I couldn't remember anymore, but what I _did _remember, made my fingertips tingle with excitement.

_A castle this old is _bound _to have secret tunnels and doors of some sort _I thought to myself eagerly.

I looked around the room again, seeing it in a completely new light as my eyes tried to pick out anywhere there might be a hidden opening or entrance.

Deciding to start with the hanging pictures, making sure to be careful not to disturb their snoozing inhabitants, I gently felt around the frames to see if there were any depressions or nooks and crannies that might be hiding buttons to open some sort of secret passage.

Not feeling anything around the first painting I moved onto the next, giving it the same treatment.

Finally, in a desperate attempt to find _something, _I unhooked the painting from the wall and started gently knocking at the stonework behind it.

It was hollow.

Letting out a short, excited gasp my eyes quickly roamed the surface of the wall for a loose brick, a nook where a lever might be hidden: anything!

Much to my disappointment though, I found nothing. Zilch. Nada. I'd need bloody _magic _to get through a solid brick wall- oh wait.

Blushing a deep red and thanking my lucky stars that the other girls were asleep so couldn't witness my stupidity, I wracked my brain for any spells I'd read about that might come in handy for a situation like this.

My mind played back the scene that had unfolded yesterday when Percy had been talking about something to do with the entrance painting when Ron, Dean and I had been messing about.

Closing my eyes in an attempt to recall what I had seen and heard in the background whilst we were talking, I remembered;

_Percy moved the portrait back with his hand and thumped on the stone wall behind it, creating a solid-sounding noise._

"_This wall may seem solid as it is now but with the password, it acts as the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. So this time the password is Caput Draconis..."_

_Maybe the portrait needed a password then? _I thought to myself before resolutely shaking my head as I remembered that Percy's knock had made a _solid _sound when he tapped against the wall; mine made a hollow one.

_Perhaps a spell? _I racked my brain for a spell that might come in handy for my predicament in the books I'd read so far.

There was _Alohamora _for locked doors, but a solid wall didn't really have all that in common with a locked door, and few dozen other spells that went from blasting a door off its hinges to incinerating it in a pile of ashes-perhaps a little too strong for 7 o'clock in the morning, not to mention if they would work on stone or not.

_Wait there was one spell that could fit the bill... _my thoughts trailed off and my eyes lit up as the incantation popped into my head.

"_Dissendium" _I whispered quietly, tapping my wand against the stone lightly.

I'd read about this particular spell on the back of a liquorice wand I'd bought on the train for lunch and, according to Lee, they put random spells on the packets, ranging from the incredibly helpful to the completely useless.

_Incredibly helpful this time _I grinned to myself as the patch of stone wall behind the portrait melted away to reveal a dark tunnel going deep into the castle wall.

Looking around to check if my sleeping roommates were still in fact asleep, I hoisted myself up into the tunnel.

It was a lot bigger than it looked once I actually got inside and I managed to turn around, reach down out of the entrance-nearly falling out and breaking my neck as I did so-and gently lift the portrait back up to hang haphazardly in front of the hole.

_Wouldn't want anyone waking up to a hole in the wall now would we _I thought to myself before whispering "_Lumos_" ,lighting up the tunnel with the globe of blue-white light now shining from the tip of my wand.

The tunnel itself was quite wide but the head room was appalling, even for me and my tiny stature, and forced me to crawl along on my hands and knees, wand clutched delicately in my mouth to light the way.

"_Achoo!" _I sneezed as cloud of dust found its way up my nose.

_Perhaps changing into my uniform before I went exploring the dark and dusty secret passageways wasn't the best idea _I grimaced thinking about what my brand new uniform would look like after I was finished dragging it across the age-old stone floor.

As I shuffled along, praying my uniform wouldn't have too many holes by the time I found out where this tunnel led to, the stifled murmurs of someone talking drifted into my ears.

I continued forward, the voices getting louder: though the sound was too muffled by the stonework for me to pick out anything that made sense.

Rounding a corner, the voices became much clearer and sounded as if they were talking just ahead of me.

But in my eagerness to get to said voices, I didn't notice a particularly low hanging bit of ceiling coming up directly in front of me, and _of course_, I had to smack straight into it.

Hissing and squeezing my eyes tightly shut due to the pain, I failed to realise the floor of the tunnel I was now crawling on had changed from the sturdy stone most of the castle was made of, to boards of ancient rotting wood.

And ancient, rotting floorboards being ancient, rotting floorboards and me, being so spectacularly _me_; I fell straight through them.

And straight through a ceiling...

And straight through the red canopy of a dorm bed...

And straight into the lap of one, quite justifiably, shocked George Weasley.

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**Okay this story has a mind of its own and I didn't know that Hailey was going to fall through the roof of the third years dorm room anymore than George or Hailey herself did! **

**Please don't forget to drop a review about what you liked or didn't like and I'll get to work on the next chapter soon ;)**

**Sammyluv21- I hope I've kept up the quality enough for that cookie you promised me ;)**

**Rea558750- I really like writing with Dean so I'm glad!**

**Team Major Whitlock- Thank you!**

**Beaver96- I hoped you liked this chapter, I especially like writing about the moving pictures with Fred and George in them :)**

**Arisa Tokudome- Thanks, I'll try my best for the next few chapters ;)**

**merdarkandtwisty- Yeah I just read it somewhere and was curious what he was like :)  
**

**Meg the Patriot- Thanks for telling me! Yeah it does seem to fit with it but you never know with Dumbledore and his odd ramblings on ;)**

**Padfootette- I'm glad you like it! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own the Harry Potter franchise etc. Here's the next chapter I hope you enjoy!**

**Oh yes, and thank you so, so, so much for all the reviews and favourites and follows the last chapter got! They left me with a stupidly happy smile on my face for the best part of two weeks and my family think I'm even weirder than I already am but I don't care because you lot are amazing :)**

**P.S thank you to Beau2809 for pointing out a timeline mistake I made, thank you so much!**

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An astonished silence filled the room, broken only by the soft trickle of dust and small pieces of debris falling from the hole I'd just made in what was apparently, the third year dorm room.

It was only broken when a pained groan forced its way through my gritted teeth, my body finally catching up with the fact that I had just fallen through a ceiling.

And the ceilings here were by _no _means low.

My groan then seemed to set the world back into motion because as soon as it left my lips Fred and Lee, who had been frozen in place, leapt out of their beds and rushed over to where I had landed on top of George.

"Hailey?! What the...?" Lee trailed off at a loss for words as I painfully rolled myself off a still very bewildered George and he tentatively checked me over with wide eyes still filled with shock whilst Fred snapped his fingers in front of his brother's unseeing eyes; trying to bring him back to the land of the living.

"Georgie?" he questioned, waving his hand back and forth over his eyes, searching for a hint of recognition anywhere in his twin's lighter blue eyes.

Eventually giving up in his attempts to snap his brother out of the daze my abrupt arrival had put him in, he turned to where Lee was staring queasily at a rather large cut scraping down one of my legs.

"Must've caught on some wood on the way down" I winced, sheepishly peering down at my leg which was currently bleeding all over the bed sheets.

"Don't worry we'll have that fixed up in jiffy" Fred said lightly, "We're always getting injured from pranks gone wrong", quickly turning his attention back to his still vacant eyed twin.

"George is the best at them though... George? Geoooorge? George! GEORGE FOR THE SAKE OF MERLIN'S BALLS SNAP OUT OF IT!" he yelled into his face, finally losing his patience.

"I'm awake, I'm awake! A healing spell, healing spell, right, got it, okay" George snapped into frenzied action, diving off his bed to retrieve his wand from the pocket of his rob hanging on the door across the room.

"Why would you want to wake up for the sake of Merlin's _balls_?" my eyebrows scrunching together in puzzlement causing Lee to snigger beside me, shaking his head.

Fred gave a huff of exasperation as he watched his brother scramble about before turning to face me with an impossibly wide grin and eyes sparkling with mischief and unanswered questions.

"So, _Hailey_" he said meaningfully, folding his arms as he turned his full attention onto me, "If you would be so kind as to tell us just how exactly you found yourself taking a small trip down onto my dear brother's bed this very fine morning, from what looks like a secret passage way above our dorm room-"

"A secret passageway that we had absolutely no knowledge of its existence until you came crashing through it and onto my lap" George finished, having returned from retrieving his wand (now fully recovered from his previous mental state) and coming to sit next to me on the bed.

"_Episky_" he pointed his wand directly at my wound and chanted.

My leg suddenly felt very hot, immediately followed by a sharp cold before it returned to normal.

Peering closely at my leg, through all the dirt, grime and blood covering it, I saw that the gash had completely healed; as if it had never been there in the first place.

"Thanks" I smiled, glad that the sharp pain had gone even though the rest of my body was still very much aching from the fall down.

"_So_...?" Lee nudged me in the shoulder trailing off and I felt all their eyes train on me as they waited for an explanation to my unexpected arrival.

"Well you_ see_..." I began telling them about how I had thought that there _must _be secret tunnels in a castle this old and I had gone looking for them in my dorm room, found one, investigated it, hit my head...

"And the next thing I know I'm falling through the bloody ceiling right through your canopy!" I exclaim waving my hands about in enthusiasm, "Sorry about that by the way" I add glancing over at George and giving him a rueful grin.

"Ah don't mention it" he smiled shrugging it off as nothing.

"I'll fix it for you" I insisted picking up my wand from the bed, where it had fallen thankfully unscathed next to me, and chanting '_Reparo_' at the ripped fabric, watching it knit back into place before saying "It's the least I can do in return for using you as a landing cushion"

"Yeah and that didn't affect you at all did it" Fred rolled his eyes good naturedly at his brother who frowned blushing.

"She surprised me!" he cried indignantly giving Fred a playful shove and pushing him off the bed causing him to flop onto the floor with a yelp of surprise causing the rest of the us to laugh out loud.

"But I can't believe that you've _already _discovered one of the hidden passages-"George said.

"-And on your first day here as well" Fred added admiringly, head peeping over the top of the mattress as he was still on the floor.

"So there _are _more" I said excitedly, my hunch from earlier delightedly proving to be correct.

"Yeah and me, Fred and George know where all of them are" Lee said proudly next to me.

"Well not a_ll _of them clearly" George said dryly, motioning to the gaping hole in the ceiling above our heads.

"I don't know why that didn't show up on the map though..." Fred trailed off with a puzzled look crossing his face.

"Map?" I wondered out loud, my curiosity piqued as I saw Fred, George and Lee exchange glances in silent conversation before finally seeming to decide on something and turning to look at me again.

"I think we can trust her" George grinned as Fred hefted himself off the floor and went to rummage about in his trunk for something, Lee nodding vigorously with an equally mischievous smile gracing his features.

"Trust me with what?" I asked, my eyes following Fred as he found whatever he was looking for and started to make his way back across the room.

"Trust you with the secret of our pranking success here at this fair school, dear Hailey" Fred confided as he came to sit with the rest of us before handing me a blank, folded piece of parchment.

"And you've been _very _successful, clearly" I said dryly as I opened up the parchment to see more blank paper, turning it over and over to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

"Ah, ah, Hailey. You forget," George chided jovially, as he took the parchment from my grasp "that we are now in the _wizarding_ world-"

"Where nothing is ever as it truly seems" Fred whispered, wiggling his fingers in front of my face in an attempt to create an air of mystery.

An attempt met with a raised eyebrow from both Lee and me.

"What Fred's making an absolute pillock out of himself trying to say, is that in the wizarding world, you should never take anything at face value" Lee said rolling his eyes at Fred's frantic hand movements.

"Like this seemingly useless piece of parchment here-" George said pointing at it with his wand.

"Actually _is _the key to our success"

"Got us out of many a jam with dear old Filtch"

"And his demon spawn cat from hell" Lee piped in, nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Been the key to _many _of our more elaborate-"

"And cunning pranks to date-"

"It really is truly brilliant" Fred and George finished together, immensely enjoying the look on my face which had become increasingly perplexed as their little speech had been going on.

"Could you please just get to the point and show me just _what _is so special about that piece of parchment" I huffed indignantly as the boys exchanged grins.

George handed me the parchment again and motioned with his wand.

"Point you wand at the paper and say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' and then tap it with the tip of your wand" he instructed me carefully.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion at George but, other than the permanent glint of mischief that always seemed to light up his eyes, there was no deceit present in his face.

Deciding to trust him- _please don't let me regret this_- I took a deep breath and recited the words he'd told me to say.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" remembering to tap my wand against the parchment after I'd finished.

"This is... amazing" I whispered in awe, eyes wide and staring at the shamefully misleading parchment I now held reverently in my hands.

Fred, George and Lee all exchanged looks of shared delight at my reaction and quickly got to work explaining just how to use the Marauder's Map ,created by messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, to its fullest potential.

"So do you know who Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs actually _are_?" I asked the trio as we walked down to the great hall for breakfast.

After spending a good half hour being shown all the secret passageways, entrances and exits that the Maruader's Map had to offer, and watching what looked like Dumbledore leaping and twirling about in the Owlery by the way his footsteps were making strange patterns on the map, we had decided to go down for breakfast a little earlier than normal.

The main reason for this was so we could talk about the map in relative privacy, as no-one was up yet, while we had breakfast, though it was also might have been to avoid the many questions surely to be asked when three male third years plus one female first year all came down from the same dorm room and said first year was covered head to foot in dust.

It wasn't as bad as before, when I'd first landed on the bed and scared George's spirit out of his body, because Fred had known a cleaning spell that got rid of most of the dust clinging to my black and grey uniform.

Apparently they had made an _extraordinary_ mess over the summer experimenting with muggle confetti, clothing items and the gardens gnomes and their mother had gotten so fed up with it all that she had given them a list of dozens of cleaning spells to learn: entirely overnight. Failure to do so was rewarded with the task of actually having to actually _wear _the clothes they'd bewitched into exploding into confetti and the most inconvenient of times and George insisted that he still kept finding bits of confetti tangled in his hair.

"Naah, we nicked it from Filtch's office in first year" Fred answered as we walked down the moving staircases to the great hall.

"Could've confiscated it from anyone really" George put in shrugging.

"At anytime-"

"In anyplace-"

"They're probably not even _at _the school anymore-"

"If they even were to begin with-"

"Imagine the pranks they must've pulled with this though-"

"Spectacular I would imagine"

"Alright, alright!" Lee laughed in exasperation at the duo finishing each other's sentences, "No need for another reminder that you two share the same brain"

I laughed along with Lee as the twins shared identical grins with each other before walking through the huge doors of the great hall.

Just as we had predicted, there were hardly any students in the hall at all, a few Slytherins and Hufflepuffs, a good majority of the Ravenclaw house ("They're probably all preparing for end of year tests _already_" Lee quipped as we passed them) and absolutely no Gryffindors.

We made our way to the end of the long tables, sitting down furthest from the staff table and began helping ourselves to the massive spread of toast, bacon, eggs, porridge, croissants and every other breakfast food you could possibly imagine.

But just as I was about to bite down on the piece of toast I had hidden under a pile of the sticky deliciousness known as jam, a voice cut through the pleasant atmosphere that had been surrounding us throughout the morning.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? _Gryffindors _at the breakfast table before the bell has even _gone_?" sneering voice uttered behind us.

_Malfoy _I thought disgustedly, not even needing to turn around to put the cocky voice with its equally cocky owner.

"And the morning was going so splendidly until, well, _you_" I say, turning around and waving my hand in Malfoy's general direction and wrinkling up my nose as if I'd smelt something unpleasant, which I had courtesy of the _'eau de body odour' _coming from Malfoy's goons Crabbe and Goyle.

The blonde gave me an oily smirk before turning to the two red-heads sat at the table.

"Ah some more Weasley's, obviously mummy dearest couldn't provide her children with anything better than mere _scraps, _you're so starving that you're here even before the rest of your sorry house" he smirked, arms folded and obviously pleased with himself at thinking up his latest insult.

"Ah, you must be Malfoy's spawn" George drawled.

"Dad told us we would have the delightful joy of breathing the same air as you this year" Fred added, giving him an obviously fake smile as he looked him up and down.

Malfoy's cronies took menacing steps forward, one cracking his knuckles in an attempt to look menacing.

"Wouldn't try that mates, we _are _third years you know" Lee said nonchalantly twirling his wand around in his hand, the steely promise of challenge glinting in his eyes.

A look of unease crossed Crabbe and Goyle's faces and they cast a quick, unsure glance back at Malfoy's pale face stood behind them.

They could probably take them all on in a fist fight but magic? Not so much.

"Well I think I've taken up enough of my precious time wasting it on looking at you lot" Malfoy sneered, ignoring the fact that his voice was wavering slightly, "Grabbe! Goyle!" he called as he made a quick retreat back to the safety of his own table.

"Insufferable git" George muttered, frowning as we turned back to our breakfasts.

I nodded my head vigorously in agreement, mouth too full of strawberry jam to give an articulate reply.

There were a few minutes of silence after that, filled only with the sounds of everyone eating, before it was broken by Lee after he'd finished his third bowl of cereal.

"You know what's strange though?" he started, pointing his spoon forwards as he said so and dripping milk all over the table.

"Whaf?" George asked through a mouthful of bacon, spraying it everywhere.

I smacked him on the arm from where I was sat next to him, flicking bits of half-chewed bacon off my sleeve though the only reply I got was an unapologetic, bacony grin.

"I haven't seen any of the ghosts around lately" Lee said.

There was a pause before Fred tilted his head to one side and said

"Yeah... I didn't see any of them at the start of term banquet, now that you mention it"

George's face fell into a puzzled frown as he nodded in agreement.

"Haven't heard Peeves clanking about scaring the firsties either" he added.

_Wait, wait, wait! Ghosts? Seriously? You've got to be kidding me _I thought hopelessly to myself throughout their little exchange, I mean, magic is one thing but ghosts?

I stared around the table, scrutinising each face for the hint of a smile or the twitch of a jaw holding back a grin concerning their latest joke.

Nothing.

"So ghosts really do exist" I half muttered, sitting back in my chair slightly, eyebrows raised incredulously, though really, nothing should surprise me by now.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I forgot for a minute that you're new to all this" Lee said as he helped himself to another bowl of cereal.

"So, do _all _people that die turn into a ghost, or is it just wizards or...?" I trailed off, my mind immediately going to the parents I had never met and a small flare of hope sparked in my chest.

"No nof eferywone" said George through another mouthful of bacon sandwich.

"Yeah, it's a bit random really" Fred added from across the table whilst he was arranging the cutlery he had used neatly on his plate.

"We were told a bit about it last year by Professor Binns" he continued absent-mindedly, seeming to focus more closely on the silver knives and forks laid down in order along the table.

"He's a ghost as well, by the way" Lee grinned at the disbelief crossing my face, "Teaches 'History of Magic', and by _Merlin _will it bore your brains out your ears"

I snorted at that before asking "So what exactly _did _he say about this whole ghost process?"

Lee's eyes squinted and travelled up into the left corner of the room trying to re-call what his ghostly professor had drivelled on about one day, when one of his classmates had asked him at the beginning of their lesson, trying to put off another mind-numbingly boring lecture for as long as possible.

"Well, like Fred said, he told us you really couldn't predict who would or wouldn't become a ghost when they died"

"Mmf!" George mumbled in agreement before swallowing another mouthful of bacon, grinning at my disgusted expression as I shook the second wave of bacon bits off my robes.

"It doesn't matter how powerful the wizard is either," he continued, laughing as I batted the rest of his bacon sandwich out of his hand as he went to take another bite mid-sentence.

"I'd rather not be showered with semi-chewed bacon every time you open your mouth thank you very much" I crossed my arms giving him a glare, though I couldn't stop the twitch of my lips as I fought the grin trying to break through.

"Alright, alright! Well, anyway, so it doesn't matter how much magic a wizard can do when it comes to knowing whether he's going to turn into a ghost or not. A squib could turn into a ghost just as easily as someone as strong as Dumbledore could" he finished shrugging.

Ignoring the wizard jargon (_Do I even want to know what a squib is anyway?_) I turned to Lee as he began talking again.

"The only thing all ghosts known to the wizarding world have in common, is that none of them were killed by magic"

The spark of hope immediately fizzed out. Though something akin to relief washed through me, because, if my parents _had _actually become ghosts, it meant they hadn't even bothered to do even a_ little_ bit of haunting around me.

_Not that being haunted by ghosts is something I find _particularly _appealing being perfectly honest with myself _I thought as a slight shudder passed through my body.

It was still a little disheartening to hear that I could never see them again, despite discovering a whole secret society of magic.

Sighing a little, my eyes trailed around the tabl-

_What._

Apparently, throughout our conversation about the origins of ghosts, Fred had gotten bored.

And what better way to cure boredom?

Bewitch the cutlery of course.

Currently, the knives and forks were taking part in a spot of, what looked like, Irish river dancing around the various plates of food whilst the spoons were tapping out a rhythm on Fred's empty plate.

"I may have just thought of the perfect idea for our next big prank" Fred grinned round, a devilish light glinting in his eyes as they finally came down to rest on the blonde head of one very unfortunate, Draco Malfoy.

* * *

**I absolutely _love _thinking up all the different pranks I'm going to make the four do and I just can't get enough of writing as the twins! For the spells in this chapter, I looked them all up on the Harry Potter Wiki so they're all 100% legit J. K. Rowling, but I think I might make up some spells of my own in the future if that's alright with you guys? **

**I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter and please don't forget to drop a review telling me what you liked about it or not :)**

**bloomnskyrules: Thanks, I'm really trying hard to make the twins as funny as they deserve to be! I think that Hailey ****will end up with George but probably not in _this _story because they're still quite young, but there'll be plenty of friendship moments to go around ;)**

**Team Major Whitlock: I hope I created a good enough reaction to Hailey falling on George's lap for you, though I'm a little worried that I may have milked it a _bit _too much ;) On the issue of Snape I'm not really sure myself because I don't want the story to just follow exactly the cannon but with a female Harry but I guess we'll see as the story progresses :)**

**forestreject: haha I'm glad it made you laugh**

**Rea558750: Yes I think a nice lapful of Hailey is a great way to start any guys day ;)**

**dianaanne: Thanks! I don't really know where that little scene came from but it just seemed to write itself and when I was done I just thought "right, well okay then that seems like a _perfectly _normal thing to add in****" ;) **

**Kuraihikaru: I hope you liked George's reaction there ;) Yeah, I don't think I've ever read one like that either, though I'll definitely still build on her relationships with Ron and Dean too :)**

**Kurosaki-chan: Thanks I had hoped it would be a funny way to end the chapter ;)**

**TwoWayMirror: Thanks so much! I will always have at least one chapter out every month, and I'll try for two whenever I can!**

**Potterhead49: Haha thanks! I needed a way for the boys to be able to contact Hailey due to the girl's staircase turning into a slide everytime a boy sets foot on it, not to say that I wont be having fun with that later ;)  
**

**galyardt: I hope the chapter lived up to your expectations :)  
**

**Rae-Nex: ;)**

**Padfootette: Thank you so much that really means a lot to me :)**

**We're All M-M-Mad Here: Oh wow, your review was awesome, I'll definitely try to speed up my writing now ;) (I love your username by the way :)**

**Carolzynha LF: Thankyou! And by other history do you mean my other story? (If so thank you again ;)**

**darkpsychoqueen: Thank you very much!**

**DominaUmbra666: Thank you, I hope leaving you to wonder what they're going to do to Malfoy wont leave you on too much of a cliffhanger for the next chapter ;)**

**Wow that is a lot of review replies but you all totally deserve them! :)**


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